Volvo reveals luxury child seat

Volvo has revealed a 'luxury' child seat that it says rewrites the rulebooks for carrying babies in vehicles.

The Scandinavian car-maker says the Excellence Child Safety Seat Concept has "completely re-imagined how children could travel safely in cars in the future".

"We have been investigating the nature of progressive luxury for some time and we see a direct connection between luxury and emotional wellbeing. So we have taken the next step in redefining how the interior of a car can be used to suit our customers' needs. We have always placed a great deal of importance on child safety, but this takes things to the next level," said Tisha Johnson, Chief Designer Interiors at Volvo Cars Concept and Monitoring Centre.

Long known for its focus on safety, Volvo says the concept originated from a conversation with Volvo owner Li Shufu, who wondered how else to use the space created by the XC90 Excellence Lounge Console Concept, which does away with the front passenger seat to create more rear-seat legroom.

The result is a child seat that allows babies to be strapped in via the front passenger door then swivelled clockwise in a rearward facing position. The concept also provides storage for small items beside the seat and a storage space underneath for nappies, blankets and the like.

Volvo says the child seat concept is in line with its position that children up to the age of three or four should travel rear-facing as long as possible, "primarily due to the lack of muscular strength in the necks of small children and the disproportionate head size and weight in relation to the body".

"We started by asking ourselves if we could make life easier for parents and safer for their children when it comes to the child seat experience," said Johnson.

"We focused on three key benefits — making it easier to get the child into and out of the child seat from an ergonomic and comfort perspective, providing the child with a safe rearward facing seating position that enables it to keep eye-contact with either the driver or the rear passenger and of course including enough storage for those vital child accessories, such as diapers, bottles, wipes, and so on.

"For us the safety, convenience and emotional factors outweigh everything else. Being able to maintain eye contact with your child from the rear seat, or being able to keep a bottle warm in the heated cup holders in the XC90 Excellence, would go a long way towards making life easier for parents taking their small child on a trip.

"Such alternative seating arrangements will become increasingly important as we move towards autonomous vehicles," said Johnson.